Re: withdrawal

[Guest guest]

> Lyndi and Crystal,

>

> You both said you withdraw from your pain meds twice a year. I don't

understand how you do that.

> If I lay flat on my back and do not lift my head up from a prone position I

might be able to cut out one dose. I admire you both for being able to do

without.

I do this also, purely because I become immune and everything stops working

after a few months, so even if I stayed on the pain meds they wouldn't be giving

me that much relief apart from the mental comfort of knowing i'm taking it,

especially the Oxynorm.

I'm on 360ml a month, 12ml a day which is already an increase from the 250ml

bottle I used to be on and I felt like a criminal just asking for that increase

a few months back. I can't bring myself to ask for an increase again so the only

option is to withdraw and crash for 2 weeks.

I hate doing it with a passion, not because of any withdrawal symptoms as the

only non pain symptom I get is a revolting smelling sweat for the first 3 days

(not something my partner appreciates much hehe), but purely because of the

increased pain and lack of sleep because of the pain.

I stop instantly without slowly reducing to get it over and done with as quickly

as possible but after a couple of weeks without it, it has a much bigger effect

on me when I do go back on it and works fully again. If I didn't do this, my

dose would just keep increasing and increasing which I don't want to do if it

can be avoided. Not because the pain is getting worse over time but because it

loses effect the longer i'm on it, I do this with my other pain meds too. Just

not all at the same time otherwise I would probably have to do myself in :-)

Love,

Rach xxx

[Guest guest]

Becky wrote:

> You both said you withdraw from your pain meds twice a year. I don't

understand how you do that. If I miss a dose of my pain meds, an hour or two

later I will be in tears because of intense pain in the back of my head where I

have the problem with my occipital nerve. I have not had to increase my meds in

2 years but I have been unable to decrease it anymore either. I do hold down a

full time job and there is no way I could do that without the pain meds. Most

days I come home from work and go straight to bed for the remainder of the day.

--------

Becky, I have several different types of severe pain, but the head pain

tops them all. Like you,, I often come home from work and can't do

anymore. I have to lay down and stay down. I wrap the back of my head

with an ice pack, and put a heating pad on my lower back.

One thing I've done, is to stop laying down in bed when I get home from

work, or on the weekend. I've made up a " day bed " on the living room

couch. It has a choice of several pillows - depending on what helps my

head that day. I've a heating pad hooked up and I put a folded quilt on

the couch and tucked it in. It doesn't look very good in the living

room, but it keeps me from being isolated so much. Over the last

fifty-five years, I've literally spent years laying on the bed because

of head pain. Since I set up the couch thing, that lonely feeling I got

from having to be alone in the bedroom so often, has gone away.

My head pain medications are different than my body medications.

Narcotics do absolutely nothing for my head pain, so when I withdraw

from them, they don't affect my head problems. If my head pain gets

really violent, I don't hesitate to take my medication. My head

problems have lead to left hemisphere strokes and I have many brain

lesions, which are a direct result of the blood vessels in my brain,

shrinking and swelling.

If I were you, I wouldn't mess with what you have going for you with

your medication - except keep looking for someone very skilled, who

knows how to lessen your pain.

You're a good lady and a tough cookie. I wish I could make your head

all better for you!

Lyndi